'Snow White' Is a Sleepy Success

Welcome back to the Box Office Report where we'd eat a red apple if Charlize Theron told us to.

1. Snow White and the Huntsman (Universal): $56.3 million in 3,773, theaters

Earlier this week, Vulture reported that if Snow White wasn't a success then heads would likely roll at Universal. They movie cost upwards of $170 million to make (rumours say it's closer to $190 million) and Universal was expecting a $35-40 million opening weekend. Even that kind of haul wouldn't guarantee job security. So, yay! $56 million is nothing to sneeze at. It helps that it's the only major release this weekend, unless you count Pirahna 3DD. Our Richard Lawson thought Snow White was only fair, but he's not as big a Kristen Stewart fan as we are. Grantland's Zach Baron wrote a brilliant take on what makes Stewart so polarizing among fans and critics alike.

2. Men In Black III (Sony): $29.3 million in 4,248 theaters [Week 2]

We had loose plans to see this with our dad this week (hi dad) but we couldn't get our act together on time. Or, maybe we did go and see it, and it was so bad we used a Neuralyzer to forgive and forget everyone involved. We still like Josh Brolin, so.

The Avengers is the little money train that could. It just keeps chugging along, bringing in eight figure paydays for Disney and Marvel, like nothing could bother it. This week it took over the #3 spot as the grossingest movie ever, both domestically and worldwide. Yes, we just made up the word "grossingest." It's chasing Titanic and Avatar. The Avengers would have to double its profits over the next five weeks to catch the Avatar, which seems unlikely, but Titanic could be within shooting distance.

4. Battleship (Universal): $4.8 million in 3,144 theaters [Week 3]

Battleship is still here, so we weren't completely wrong. A $4.8 million take isn't exactly respectable, though. It's only taken in a quarter of its budget domestically. Yikes. No wonder people at Universal are close to losing their jobs.

5. The Dictator (Paramount): $4.7 million in 2,649 theaters [Week 3]

It's too bad The Dictator couldn't shoot people into the theaters like Cohen's character does in that foot race in the trailer. Maybe then it's performance wouldn't have been so limp? Good riddance. Bring on Prometheus.

This article is from the archive of our partner The Wire.

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Connor Simpson is a former staff writer for The Wire. His work has appeared in Business Insider and City Lab.